By this time next week, all of the College Football Playoff and bowl pairings will be officially announced. But, until then, here are my latest projections. I’ll provide another update later in the week.
Remarkably, there are exactly 82 bowl-eligible teams for 82 spots, so no team will be left behind. My College Football Playoff projections and bowl projections are based on these teams winning their respective conference championships: Oregon (Big Ten), Texas (SEC), SMU (ACC), Arizona State (Big 12) and UNLV (Mountain West).
If those teams all win, then 11 of the 12 teams should be locked in: Oregon, Indiana, Ohio State and Penn State (Big Ten); Texas, Georgia and Tennessee (SEC); SMU (ACC); Arizona State (Big 12); UNLV (highest-ranked Group of Five champion) and independent Notre Dame.
That leaves one at-large spot. Ultimately, I believe the committee will take 9-3 Alabama over 10-2 Miami and 9-3 South Carolina because the Tide have played a much tougher schedule and have more Top 25 wins than Miami. Plus, they own the head-to-head tiebreaker edge over South Carolina.
Here are my Week 15 bowl projections, including the projected point spread of each matchup from Action Network senior writer Collin Wilson’s betting power ratings.
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Projected College Football Playoff Field
*Conference champions projected to receive automatic bids
| 1 |  Oregon* | Big Ten | ||||
| 2 |  Texas* | SEC | ||||
| 3 |  SMU* | ACC | ||||
| 4 |  Arizona State* | Big 12 | ||||
| 5 |  Notre Dame | Independent | ||||
| 6 |  Penn State | Big Ten | ||||
| 7 |  Georgia | SEC | ||||
| 8 |  Ohio State | Big Ten | ||||
| 9 |  Tennessee | SEC | ||||
| 10 |  Indiana | Big Ten | ||||
| 11 |  Alabama | SEC | ||||
| 12 |  UNLV* | MWC | ||||
In my projected College Football Playoff field, I have Oregon coming in as the top overall seed as the Big Ten champion, followed by Texas as the SEC champion, SMU as the ACC champion and Arizona State as the Big 12 champion.
My No. 12 seed is the highest-ranked remaining conference champion, the UNLV Rebels, out of the Mountain West. I have the Sun Devils ranked ahead of the Rebels, giving them the No. 4 seed over UNLV.
In my projected field, the Big Ten (Ohio State, Penn State and Indiana) and SEC (Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama) each get three at-large selections and the ACC gets one (SMU). No other conference has an at-large selection in my projections
Independent Notre Dame also cracked the field as my No. 5 seed.
College Football Playoff First Round
 CFP First Round Dec. 20 • Columbus, OH Tennessee Ohio State -3  | CFP First Round Dec. 21 • South Bend, IN  UNLV Notre Dame -15.5 |
CFP First Round Dec. 21 • State College, PA  Alabama -1.5 Penn State | CFP First Round Dec. 21 • Athens, GA Indiana Georgia -6.5 |
College Football Playoff Quarterfinals
 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl Dec. 31 • Glendale, AZ Arizona State Notre Dame -11.5 |  Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl Jan. 1 • Atlanta, GA SMU Penn State -4.5 |
 Rose Bowl Jan. 1 • Pasadena, CA Oregon -1.5 Ohio State |  Allstate Sugar Bowl Jan. 1 • New Orleans, LA Texas -3.5 Georgia |
College Football Playoff Semifinals
 Capital One Orange Bowl Jan. 9 • Miami, FL Georgia -2.5 Penn State |  Goodyear Cotton Bowl Jan. 10 • Arlington, TX Oregon -3 Notre Dame |
CFP National Championship Prediction
Projections for All Other Bowl Games
 Bahamas Bowl Jan. 4 • Nassau, Bahamas  NIU  Liberty -2 |  Duke's Mayo Bowl Jan. 3 • Charlotte, NC  Nebraska  Louisville -3 |  First Responder Bowl Jan. 3 • Dallas, TX  NC State -6.5  UTSA |  TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Jan. 2 • Jacksonville, FL  Missouri -8  Syracuse |  Texas Bowl Dec. 31 • Houston, TX  Baylor -1.5  Arkansas |  Cheez-It Citrus Bowl Dec. 31 • Orlando, FL  S. Carolina -8.5  Illinois |  Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl Dec. 31 • El Paso, TX  Duke  USC -5.5 |  ReliaQuest Bowl Dec. 31 • Tampa, FL  Florida -1.5  Iowa |  Music City Bowl Dec. 30 • Nashville, TN  LSU -4  Minnesota |  Independence Bowl Dec. 28 • Shreveport, LA  Memphis  West Virginia -6 |  Valero Alamo Bowl Dec. 28 • San Antonio, TX  BYU  Colorado -4 |  Military Bowl Dec. 28 • Annapolis, MD  Georgia Tech -4.5  Army |  Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl Dec. 28 • Tucson, AZ  Miami OH -3.5  Colorado St. |  Pop-Tarts Bowl Dec. 28 • Orlando, FL  Miami -7.5  Iowa State |  New Mexico Bowl Dec. 28 • Albuquerque, NM  North Texas  Louisiana -8 |  Pinstripe Bowl Dec. 28 • Bronx, NY  Boston College  Michigan -6.5 |  Wasabi Fenway Bowl Dec. 28 • Boston, MA  Virginia Tech -1.5  Tulane |  Holiday Bowl Dec. 27 • San Diego, CA  Clemson -14.5  Washington St. |  Las Vegas Bowl Dec. 27 • Las Vegas, NV  Ole Miss -11  Washington |  AutoZone Liberty Bowl Dec. 27 • Memphis, TN  Texas A&M -3.5  Kansas State |  Birmingham Bowl Dec. 27 • Birmingham, AL  Oklahoma -7.5  UNC |  Armed Forces Bowl Dec. 27 • Fort Worth, TX  Navy  Texas Tech -11 |  68 Ventures Bowl Dec. 26 • Mobile, AL  Arkansas St. -2.5  W. Michigan |  Rate Bowl Dec. 26 • Phoenix, AZ  TCU -6.5  Rutgers |  GameAbove Sports Bowl Dec. 26 • Detroit, MI  Buffalo  UConn -5 |  Hawai'i Bowl Dec. 24 • Honolulu, HI  South Florida -2  San Jose St. |  Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Dec. 23 • Boise, ID  Bowling Green  Fresno State PK |  Myrtle Beach Bowl Dec. 23 • Conway, SC  WKU -2.5  Coastal Carolina |  Gasparilla Bowl Dec. 20 • Tampa, FL  Vanderbilt -1.5  Pittsburgh |  StaffDNA Cure Bowl Dec. 20 • Orlando, FL  Jacksonville St.  Marshall -3.5 |  New Orleans Bowl Dec. 19 • New Orleans, LA  JMU -8.5  Sam Houston |  LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk Dec. 18 • Inglewood, CA  California  Boise State -4.5 |  Boca Raton Bowl Dec. 18 • Boca Raton, FL  Ohio -4  Georgia Southern |  Frisco Bowl Dec. 17 • Frisco, TX  Texas State -5  East Carolina |  Salute to Veterans Bowl Dec. 14 • Montgomery, AL  Toledo  S. Alabama -6.5 |
